DIY Tent Weights

We recently purchase a new event tent for this year out at Portland Saturday Market. We were pricing out weights to purchase for our new Event Tent
and found that they are very expensive. Each tent leg is required to have 20 pounds to help stabilize the tent. We found a few weights that we liked but they were outside of our budget. We took a look around PSM and found that a lot of vendors use the same type of weights. They were also the ones that would cost a small fortune in shipping due to the weight of them. We found we could make our own for about $25 - 30 dollars for four weights.

Supplies Required:

4 - 2" to 4" wide PVC piping 18" to 20" long.

8 PVC caps to fit the ends of the pipes

PVC cement glue

80 pounds of Sand

Mallet

Towel

All supplies can be purchases at a hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes. The PVC piping can be cut to the size you need by the store. We cut ours to 18" long. We used our old milk jugs we made for our weights last year filled with sand to pour into the piping.

1. Place PVC glue on both the PVC pipe and the inside of the PVC cap. Then place the cap on the end and use the mallet to hammer it in place. Use the towel to wipe up any dripping or spilled glue.

2. Allow to dry over night.

3. The next day we filled the PVC pipe with sand all the way to the top. Then we thumped the PVC pipe on the ground a few times to compact the sand. Top off the PVC pipe with sand. 

4. Glue the inside of the PVC cap and around the outside and top of the PVC pipe making sure not to get sand on the glue brush. Use towel to clean up any spills.

5. Place the PVC cap over the top of the PVC piping filled with sand and use the mallet to hammer to secure the cap in place. Make sure that the cap is all the way on. 

6. Allow to dry overnight.

This is what the finished weight looks like. We will use two bungees to secure them to the legs of the tent. The bungees will be used on each end.

***Optional***

For weights to be secured by a rope to the top of the tent.

Supplies

Other Cap end not being glued to the pipe in step #1

4 Heavy duty Loop hooks with screw ends.

4 Wing Nuts or Bolts

Drill

Rope

Silicone Glue

A. We will use the other cap end. 

B. Before gluing the end cap on drill a hole in the middle top of it.

C. Then screw the Heavy duty loop hook into the hole. 

D. Spread Silicone Glue around the inside of the cap and the hook. 

E. Use the wing nut to secure the hook from the inside of the cap over the glue.

F. Pick up at step #2 above. Allow to dry over night.

Use the rope to tie to the top of the tent and bungees to the legs. This adds extra stability in heavier winds. This still does not guarantee that the wind will not flip your tent. It just helps keep it ground.

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